The earthquake in Japan comes as the International Atomic Energy Agency warns that 80 percent of the world’s nuclear power plants are more than 20 years old, raising safety concerns. In its annual Nuclear Safety Review, the IAEA said the aging plants could pose safety risks, with 5 percent of nuclear sites over 40 years old and 32 percent more than 32 years old. At a nuclear conference in Maryland, the chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Gregory Jaczko, called for urgent safety reforms at U.S. facilities.

Gregory Jaczko: “We ultimately will have to address the issue of how we deal with nuclear events that lead to significant land contamination and displacement, perhaps permanently, of people from their homes and their livelihoods and their communities. These are difficult questions that do not have simple answers, but they are ultimately issues that we have to address now, while these issues are fresh in our mind. Any nuclear accident that happens like Fukushima in this country will be unacceptable.”